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DNITED STATES OF AMERICA 






THE KING OF LOVE. 



THE KING OF LOVE 



BY THE AUTHOR OF 
"HOW TO ENTER INTO REST," Etc. 




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JE MEURS OU JE M'ATTACHE, 






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WILLARD TRACT REPOSITORY, 

12 WEST STREET, BOSTON. ^ 
239 Fourth Ave., New York. 



S74- 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

CHARLES CULLIS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



The Library 
of Congress 

WASHINGTON 



TO THE MEMORY 



OF 



HIS GREAT GOODNESS. 



If we hope for that we see not, then do we with 
patience wait for it." — Rom. viii. 25. 

" Though it tarry, wait for it, it will surely come." 



PREFACE, 



TT seems to me there is one great ring 
throughout the world ; throughout all 
nature ; throughout the universe ; one 
commanding influence to which above 
every other our hearts turn and obey. 
One strong cord which knits and knots 
all the other cords that bind our life ; one 
sound that vibrates above and through 
every other ; one ray of light that gives 
light by which to see all others ; one 
note of music which harmonizes every 
other; one centre to which all must 
converge. 

Is it love ? 

" Love is born of God." 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. 






PAGE 


I. HIMSELF 




• 


• 3 


II. WE TO HJM 




- 


i5 


II. WITHIN Hb . 






• ->J 


IV. BESIDE US . 






31 


V. AROUND US 






• 45 


VI. IN STILLNESS 






, 5i 


VII. JOY IN HIM 






69 


VIII. PEACE . 






83 


IX. THE NEW HOME . 




► • 4 


■ 9i 



B 



"The King of love my Shepherd is, 
Whose goodness faileth never ; 
Nothing I lack, if I am His, 
And He is mine for ever." 



HIMSELF 

" To know the love of Christ."— Eph. iii. 19. 

XJIMSELF, Jesus Himself; Human, 
Divine ; God and Man ; the One, 
in whom alone, whatever is divine within 
us can find satisfaction ; the One, towards 
whom our poor human nature stretches 
out its hands, and cries for deliverance 
and rest and peace ; this One — He is the 
King of Love ; He is God ; God is Love. 
Oh, what a God is this God of ours ! 
How does His love never weary, never 
tire, never faint ! Has He not grown 
foot-sore with following the straying 
sheep in the. wilderness r Is not His 
shoulder yet weary with the burden of 
carrying them to the fold ? Has not 



4 THE KING OF LOVE. 

the pain yet caused Him to forget to re- 
joice ? Is this Shepherd, weary and worn, 
with bleeding feet and aching limbs, 
journeying to the highest heights, pur- 
suing to the lowest depths, is He a King ? 
"Who but the Highest of all could 
venture to the lowest ? Who but Love 
could bear such slights, such rebuffs ? 
What but the mighty tenderness of God 
Himself could thus seek and thus jind ? 

Ah ! we can but imagine, we can but 
guess, we can but reach out towards 
this love ; and 3'et it can penetrate our 
inmost soul. Oh, to know it ! Oh, to 
have it for our own ! 

Let us turn often and watch this won- 
drous thing. Let us gaze and gaze, till 
it enters deeply within our soul. 

And first let us consider, wherein has 
it shown itself r 

..." See, His hands are nailed, they 
cannot strike thee ; His feet also, Lie 
cannot run from thee ; His arms are 
wide open to embrace thee ; His head 
hangs down to kiss thee ; His very heart 



HIMSELF. 5 

is open, so that therein, see, look, spy, 
behold, and thou shalt see nothing but 
love, love, love to thee ; hide thee there- 
fore, lay thy head there with the Evan- 
gelist. This is the cleft of the rock 
wherein Elias stood. This is the pillow 
of down for all aching heads. Anoint 
thy head with this oil ; let this ointment 
embalm thy head, and wash thy face. 
Tarry thou here, and quite sure art thou 
I warrant thee. Say with Paul, Who 
can separate me from the love of God ? 
Can death, can poverty, sickness, hunger 
or any misery persuade thee that God 
loves thee not ? Nay, nothing can sepa- 
rate thee from the love wherewith God 
hath loved thee in Christ Jesus ; whom 
He loveth, He loveth unto the end/'* 

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, 
because He laid down His life for us." 
(i John iii. 16.) 

" I am the Good Shepherd, the Good 
Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." 
(John x. ii.) 

* Bradford. 



6 THE KING OF LOVE. 

This is the love of the Son ; the be- 
loved Son, in whom the Father is well- 
pleased ; the only begotten ; the bright- 
ness of God's glory, and the express 
image of His person. 

How came it then, that such an one — 
precious, beloved, one with the Father, 
gave His life ? gave it for enemies and 
murderers ; children of darkness and dis- 
obedience ? 

Surely we should have snatched our 
dearest one from such a lot ; it would 
have been far easier to bear the bitter- 
ness and shame oneself than to see them 
suffer. But God — let His well- beloved 
go ; even sent Him ; and to what a fear- 
ful, what an awful change ! From a 
home of light to a land of darkness ; 
from before the face of Love to the 
hatred of wicked men ; from power 
to weakness ; from glory to shame ; 
from honour to ignominy; from majesty 
and life to drink the bitter death- 
cup to the very dregs. How could it 
ber 



HIMSELF. 7 

It is the mystery of Love to which no 
heart has ever yet pierced ; but every 
heart that has embraced it for its own, 
vibrates, struck by the same chord, as it 
dwells on the Oneness of the Father and 
the Son — the One God who is Love, and 
then reads : — 

" The Father sent the Son to be the 
Saviour of the world." (i John iv. 14.) 

Oh, what majesty, what depths, what 
length and breadth and height, in these 
simple words ; what oneness of purpose, 
what perfection of love, what fellowship 
of the spirit. And this God is our God. 
This love is for us. He wishes us to be 
very personal, to make no mistake about 
it, therefore He tells us, — u I have loved 
thee with an everlasting love," (Jer. xxxi. 
3), and that we may not say it is too 
mighty for us to know, in another 
place He specially speaks of it in His 
human nature, " I drew them with the 
cords of a man y with bands of love." 
'Hos. xi. 4.) 

No, it is not. too mighty ; it is not too 



8 THE KING OF LOVE. 

tender; we need it all; we little know 
how we need it. 

It is beyond us, and away from us, 
outside us and around us, spreading far 
and near, overflowing its borders, stretch- 
ing wider than ocean's reach, encompas- 
sing the earth, brooding over this sin- 
stricken world, inhabiting eternity, and 
yet — and yet there is a home for us in its 
very centre ; the only home where rest is 
to be found ; the only centre from which 
we shall never wish to spring, even in 
the very heart of our Lord. " Abide in 
me." 

And as if this— think of it— as if this 
were not enough ; He, Love, looks down, 
— perhaps with that blessed, tender, piti- 
ful look, that we fancy He must have 
laid on the little children, the disciples 
would have sent away from Him — He 
looks down, and what does He see ? A 
heart, evil and defiled, miserable and 
poor and wretched ; and as if He had 
not yet bestowed enough, He adds, — 
" And /in you" 



HIMSELF. • 9 

Is it not wonderful ? 

" Abide in me/' to show us His 
beauty ; " and I in you," to make us 
beautiful for Himself. And when we 
know this, we know a little, just a little 
of what it means when it says, — "The 
King brought me into His chambers. " 
(Cant. i. 4.) Into the heart that bled and 
broke for me, into the heart that suffered 
and died for me, into the heart where 
" love strong as death " — (Cant. viii. 6) ; 
broke the bands of death, and rose tri- 
umphant over the grave, and lives at 
God's right hand, until the church, His 
bride, whom He loved, and for whom He 
gave Himself — sanctified and cleansed 
— shall be presented unto Himself; a 
glorious church, not having spot or 
wrinkle or any such thing, but holy 
and without blemish (Eph. iv. 25, 27); 
and He shall come forth crowned, " in 
the day of the gladness of His heart" 
(Cant. iii. 11); and shall " see of the 
travail of His soul, and be satisfied'' 
(Is. liii.) 



io THE KING OF LOVE. 

Is not this blessed to look for, and all 
through Him ? does it not make us long 
ever more earnestly to know u the King in 
His beauty?" (Is. xxxiii. i. 7), to "know 
the love of Christ, which passeth know- 
ledge?" (Eph. iii. 19.) Oh! what a King 
to serve, where He Himself is Love, and 
the service all love ; and where, the 
more we gaze, the more we know and 
feel His love. What can w 7 e say of 
Him? 

" My Beloved is white and ruddy, the 
chiefest among ten thousand. His head 
is as the most fine gold ; His locks are 
bushy and black as a raven ; His eyes 
are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of 
water, washed with milk and fitly set. 
His cheeks as a bed of spices, as sweet 
flowers; His lips like lilies, dropping 
sweet-smelling myrrh. . . His counte- 
nance is as Lebanon, excellent as the 
cedars ; His mouth is most sweet ; yea, 
He is altogether lovely." (Cant. v. 10, &c.) 
And the New Testament can find no 
fuller or more perfect description, and so 



HIMSELF. 1 1 

sums all up in a short word, and calls 
Him : — " The pearl of great price." Is 
it not enough that " This is my beloved, 
and this is my friend ? " (Cant. v. 1 6.) 



II. 



"Lord Jesus, if I cannot say 

That I have love to Thee ; 
Do thou, I pray Thee, day by day, 

Reveal thy love to me." 

" When the heart says, sighing to be approved, 
'Oh, that I loved,' and stops — God answers, 'Loved.'" 

"Oh Lord, let that become possible to me by Thy 
grace, which by nature seems impossible to me." — ■ 
Thomas a Kempis. 



WE TO HIM. 

" To know the lo\e of Christ, which passeth knowledge." 
Eph. iii. 19. 

A ND if this is our Pearl, how must we 
set it? 

No two people will set a jewel pre- 
cisely in the same manner ; yet, if they 
have any just appreciation of it, their 
object will be the same. They will 
strive to give it such a setting as will 
make the gazer forg-et that it is set — 
lost in admiration of the gem. 

Such must be our aim, our desire, 
our fervent longing. The life that is 
bestowed upon us must be gathered up 
so close to the Pearl, that the frail set- 
ting will be forgotten, in the lights and 



16 THE KING OF LOVE. 

shades and glory that the gem will 
cast over it. 

Therefore we come to this — that all 
our life must be love, feeble and poor 
though it be, and unworthy the name 
of love ; yet in the eyes of the King, it 
is the most — the only — fit setting for the 
Pearl ; and the soft lustre that spreads 
from the jewel will extend over the set- 
ting, glorifying it with its own light. 

'* Oh, wonderful, that Thou should'st let 
So vile a heart as mine 
Love Thee with such a love as this, 
And make so free with Thine." * 

Let us see what one of old says of 
this love of God in the heart : — " The 
noble love of Jesus impels a man to do 
great things, and stirs him up to be 
always longing for what is more perfect ; 
nothing is sweeter than love; nothing 
more courageous, nothing higher, no- 
thing wider, nothing more pleasant, 
nothing fuller nor better in heaven and 

* Faber. 



WE TO HIM. 17 

earth, because love is born of God, and 
cannot rest but in God above all created 
things. He that loveth, flieth, runneth, 
and rejoiceth ; he is free, and is not 
bound. He giveth all for all, because 
he resteth in One highest above all 
things, from whom all that is good 
flows and proceeds." * 

Do you know something of this ? Do 
you know what it is to have your very 
soul athirst for the love of God ? to 
stretch out your hands eagerly that they 
may be filled with the love of Christ, 
good measure, pressed down, and run- 
ning over, till men shall turn to gaze, 
and whisper that " you have been with 
Jesus?" (Acts. iv. 13.) 

Perhaps the answ T er comes, that you 
know the thirsting, and the stretching 
out for fullness, but you do not know 
what it is to be filled ; you are weary 
with seeking, and are fain to cry out, 
" Oh, that I had wings like a dove, for 

* Thomas a Kempis. 
C 



1 8 THE KING OF LOVE. 

then would I flee away and be at 
rest." (Ps. lv. 6.) Listen then, " But 
the dove found no rest for the sole of 

her foot, and she returned unto him 

then he put forth his hand, and took 
her and pulled her in unto him" (Gen. 
viii. 9.) 

That is where you will find the rest 
of love, tired, longing soul ; not in turn- 
ing to weep over your poor store ; not 
in summing up what you have, or have 
not, of love ; not in gazing at the empti- 
ness, and only longing for what should 
be there. Not in any of these things ; 
but in resolutely turning away from all 
the goodness, as well as from all the 
badness in you ; in turning away from 
all the love in you, as much as from all 
the want of love, and instead of that, 
— "Beholding, as in a glass, the glory 
of the Lord ; " for then comes the change 
in self, and "We .... are changed into 
the same image, as by the spirit of the 
Lord." (2 Cor. iii. 18.) 

It is by gazing into His face, that we 



WE TO HIM. 19 

learn His love, and that at last our own 
heart responds, and finds that it can 
pour out love and thanks, and we are 
ready to say, as the disciples, " Did not 
our heart burn within us while He 
talked with us by the way, and while 
He opened to us the scriptures ? " (Luke 
xxiv. 32.) Only, that with us, it may be 
for ever the present, and not the past, for 
when he vanished from earthly sight, and 
ascended on high, He left us this blessed 
assurance of His certain and continual 
presence, " Lo, I am with you always." 
(Mat. xxviii, 19. • 

And this blessed life has no end ; 
blessed indeed, because full of love, and 
therefore growing ever more perfectly 
in the "Holiness without which no man 
shall see the Lord/' (Heb. xii. 14.) 
Abiding in Him and he in us, our path 
becomes "as a shining light, shining 
more and more unto the perfect day." 
(Pro. iv. 18.) And we begin to know the 
truth of those lines in the "Rhythm of 
St. Bernard," applying them to our life 



20 THE KING OF LOVE. 

in Christ, our knowledge of Him, our 
love and satisfaction in Him : — 

" Oh thirst for ever ardent, 
Yet, evermore content " 

Do you understand it ? do you know it ? 
I think you must ; surely it is growing, it 
is nearing, it is coming. 

" The love of Jesus what it is, 
None but His loved ones know." 

And you being a loved one, have already 
begun your share in knowing what it is 
prayed that " the Father would grant 
you ; .... to know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge/' Oh, won- 
drous prayer, and yet not wondrous, for 
it comes to us from the heart of God ; 
an inspiration of the Holy Spirit ; and 
you, having heard the loving voice of 
Jesus once, can never, will never, rest 
till you hear it always. But we have yet 
something to learn of the manner in 
which this love comes to us ; rattier, it 
is already come to us ; let us set; more 
then of the way in which it comei i/> u<* 



III. 



" God is never so far off, 
As even to be near ; 
He dwells within, our spirit is 
The home He holds most dear. 

" To think of Him as by our side, 
Is almost as untrue 
As to remove His throne, beyond 
Those skies of starry blue. 

'• So all the while I thought myself 
Homeless, forlorn and weary I 
Missing my joy,. I walked the earth, 
Myself God's Sanctuary." 

Faber. 

I Cor. iii. 16. 



WITHIN US. 

"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the 
Holy Spirit which is given unto us." — Rom. v. 5. 

TTERE is the great secret — the great 
force — the constraining influence 
which draws out our heart in love to 
Christ ; and love to Him can come out 
of our poor, weak, evil heart, for it comes 
just in the same way as all the other 
Christian graces — that is, it is God's love, 
which we receive from Him, to return to 
Him, and He accepts it as our very own 
gift. 

It is not that we have a scanty supply 
of love ourselves, and must diligently 
trade with that and make it more ; no, it 
is a divine, spiritual love, which is of 



24 THE KING OF LOVE. 

God, and yet dwells with us — "The love 
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by 
the Holy Spirit." (Rom. v. 5.) 

Could we receive it in a more precious 
way ? God's own love, and it is shed 
into our hearts by the blessed Holy 
Spirit. 

And how does He bring God's love 
into our heart, making it so one with us, 
that we can give it back to Him as our 
own ? Not by occupying us with our- 
selves, with what we have or have not, 
but thus, — He takes of the things of 
Jesus and shows them unto us — "He 
shall receive of mine, and shall show it 
unto you .... He shall take of mine, 
and shall show it unto you." (John xvi. 

We cannot be looking at two things at 
the same moment— not at ourself and at 
Christ ; and we read that the Holy Spirit 
convinces of " sin " those who " believe 
not ; " but, having believed, it seems 
to me, His great work is to reveal the 
Lord Jesus to us, and the more clearly 



WITHIN US. 25 

and fully we see and know Him, the 
more clearly and fully do we see all 
else. 

There is, and always will be, an under- 
current of the knowledge of our sinful 
nature and past sins ; but if we stop to 
gaze at these, will it not weaken and 
unnerve us ? Perhaps with you it is a 
great grief that, since knowing Christ as 
your Saviour, you do not feel your past 
sins more deeply ; you think that if only 
you were more conscious of the exceed- 
ing sinfulness of sin, and of your own 
sins in particular, it would fill you with 
love to Him who has redeemed you, and 
that on the other hand, if you had real 
deep love to Him, that would bring you 
under deep conviction of sin. 

Both are needed, but they will not 
corne in seeking for them as for things 
by themselves ; but the more we know 
Christ Himself y the more shall we love 
Him, and the more shall we shrink away 
from everything that is hateful and dis- 
pleasing to Him. 



26 THE KING OF LOVE. 

Do we not need, and shall we not seek 
a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
within us ? How do we know what He 
will not work upon us and in us — to 
what new and lovely paths He will lead 
us ; for, following Him, delivering our- 
selves up to Him, "the heart 

launches out on the boundless ocean of 
the love of God. It comes to 'know 
the love of Christ/ of which yet it is 
conscious that it ' passeth knowledge/ 
Hungering and thirsting for righteous- 
ness, it has come to know Jesus, and 
been i filled/ and yet never did it know 
such quenchless yearnings for a holier 
life ; ' ' perfect/ yet ' not already per- 
fected ; ' ' satisfied/ yet ' hungering and 
thirsting ; ' at rest, yet ' earnestly con- 
tending;' knowing the love of Christ, 
yet panting to comprehend what is its 
breadth, and length, and depth, and 
height ; always rejoicing, yet sorrowful ; 
an inward knowledge of God has solved 
all the paradoxes of His Word/'* 

* Walking in the Light— R. P. S. 



WITHIN US. 27 

Ah, St. Paul well knew what He was 
saying when He told the brethren to 
" strive together with Him for the love 
of the Spirit/' (Rom. xv. 30.) 

How holy, how gentle, His leadings ; 
how near to Christ ; how one with Him ; 
how abounding with love, and therefore 
with joy, peace, and hope— for love 
reveals to us all secrets ; loving, we are 
full of joy in the object of our love; 
eager, bold, glad, for we have but one 
object at heart — to love and show that 
we love ; and already we are triumphant, 
exultant in Him. 

Full of peace, for there is nothing 
unresting ; the dove, who finds rest with 
Hint) wanders no more ; the wanderings 
were too sad, too lonely, too full of bitter 
cravings and impossibilities — now, in His 
presence, there is fullness of joy — and 
He continually — always — makes that one 
"full of joy with His countenance;" 
abundantly satisfied, full of peace to the 
very centre. Winds may blow, and 
tempests fall with terrible violence, yet 



28 THE KING OF LOVE. 

the soul — the true, real, living self — is 
still at peace, unshattered, untormented ; 
because, whatever betides, God "keeps 
those in perfect peace whose minds are 
stayed on Him, because they trust in 
Him" (Is. xxvi. 3); and our mind, still 
less our heart, cannot trustingly be 
stayed, except where we love. 

Full of hope— for the past life tells us 
that what has been shall be — and love 
exults in the knowledge that " goodness 
and mercy do follow" and crown every 
day ; and not only that, but each day 
leaves a full grand assurance for the 
future. — 

"Then on Thy grandeur I will lay me down, 
Already life is heaven to me ; 
No cradled child more softly lies than I ; 
Come soon, Eternity."* 

For whether in life or death, nothing, I 
am persuaded, shall separate us from 
the love of God, which is, in Christ 
Jesus, shed abroad in our heart by the 
Holy Spirit. 

* Faber. 



IV. 



" Give thy heart's best treasure ; 
From fair nature learn ; 
Give thy love, and ask not, 
Wait not a return. 

" And the more thou spendest, 
From thy little store ; 
With a double bounty, 

God shall give thee more." 



A. A. Procter. 



" Love that gives its own for naught, 
Is like the God of Heaven.' ' 



BESIDE US. 



" The love of Christ constraineth us." — 2 Cor. v. 14. 

" Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye did it unto Me" — Matt. xxv. 40. 



TN the great and terrible trials of life, 
the anxious and dreaded ones, all 
who are Christ's, know what it is to 
commit them to the love and wisdom of 
God, and to rest on Him. I will not 
speak of these, but in relation with the 
small, insignificant troubles of life, let 
us consider this word of the King's — 
" Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the 
least of these My brethren, ye did it 
unto Me" 
. Oh, are our daily lives, the blameless, 



32 THE KING OF LOVE. 

loving lives that become the children 
of a King whose name is Love ? Are 
they gentle, lowly, humble-minded; every 
action, an action of love to Him ? 

For such they may be. Spent with 
Jesus, such they must of necessity be. 

But then, how is it that we meet so 
many Christians who are quick-tempered, 
ill-te pered, cross, vain 5 worldly-minded, 
irritable, full of worries, teasing, abrupt, 
sarcastic, rough, to be approached on 
some subjects, and at some times, with 
extreme caution ; impatient, ungracious, 
self-seeking, ready with sharp words, 
puffed up, easily provoked, ready with 
scandal and unkind gossip ; doubting, 
dark, miserable, desponding ? 

These, all together, are much ; each 
taken separately is called " a very small 
thing/' and a u servant of Jesus Christ " 
thinks nothing of excusing his roughness, 
or sharp words, or want of forethought. 

But oh ! ought His servants to be 
guilty of these things ? Dear friend, 
the shame you bring on yourself is little; 



BESIDE US. 33 

it is nothings in comparison with the 
shame you bring on Christ by not 
honouring Him. 

Do you belong to Christ, and are you 
" worried to death ? " 

Have you His comforting presence and 
boundless love, and can any one and 
anything " put you out in a minute ? " 

May you be full of joy with His 
countenance" (Acts iii. 28), and is there 
" nothing worth living for ? " 

Has Christ forgiven you all your 
trespasses, and is there some one to 
whom you mean "to tell out your 
mind r " Did Christ " not please Him- 
self ?" (Rom. xv. 3) ; and do we seek 
the pleasantest seat — the warmest corner 
— the first sight of a new book ? 

Did He "suffer for us> leaving us an 
example that we should follow His 
steps " ( 1 Peter iii. 2 1 ) ; and do we grudge 
the small inconvenience of running a 
message — laying down our work, or 
reading, to oblige another ? When He 
was "reviled, did He not revile again" 

D 



34 THE KING OF LOVE. 

(i Peter ii. 23), and does an interruption 
in an important, or oftener still, in an 
unimportant occupation, make us hasty 
and irritable ? 

Did publicans and sinners draw near 
to Him to find and meet a loving wel- 
come, and are we ungracious and sharp 
to those who love us, and whom we 
love? 

Is He the Author of that love which 
" covereth a multitude of sins " (1 Peter iv. 
8), and are we, His servants, eager with 
a bit of scandal because it is amusing, — 
with a bit of unkind gossip, because it 
passes away the time ? 

Oh, what is the reason that we are 
so un-Christlike ; so miserably mean and 
little, and with it all, quite ready to pass 
it over and excuse ourselves ? Surely it 
is the want of love — surely, love to Him, 
would put these things right, for the 
very lowliest and humblest act may be 
done to Hwt y out of love to Him. "All, 
.... the very least things which all 
must do every day ; which our Lord 



BESIDE US. 35 

includes under the name of ' daily- 
bread/ So that we may stop at nothing 
short of all, but our whole being, doing, 
thinking, living, willing, having, longing, 
be wrapt up, gathered, concentrated, in 
the one will and good pleasure of God." * 

You are ready for His service ; it is 
the delight and joy of your life to work 
for Him, will you not then begin, where 
perhaps His eye will rest most approv- 
ingly of all upon you, in your own 
narrow circle, and live such a life of 
love, as will make men wonder, for 
the)' will see, not you, but Christ living 
in you. 

Think, if He had to live your life, 
how He would live it ? What gracious- 
ness, what gentleness, what obligingness, 
what a quickness to see and supply the 
wants of others, there would be; what 
loving thought before correction, what 
glad, bright sympathy in joy, what 
tenderness in trouble ? 

Are you not ready for this, for His 

* Dr. Pusey. 



36 THE KING OF LOVE. 

sake r Has He not loved you enough ? 
or are you ready for a great sacrifice, 
and reluctant for a small one ? Are you 
anxious to serve Him in much, and not 
ready to please Him in little ? 

" Let not your heart be troubled " 
(John xiv. i), is as much a command as, 
" Thou shalt not steal ; " but it seems 
as if very many never even think that 
it is a command at all ; they give as 
a sort of answer, " Oh, but I have so 
many things to think about and to 
trouble me ! " Christ did not forget that 
you would have those " many things " 
when He said those words, and yet He 
said them twice over. These things 
would not "trouble" you, if you were 
absolutely living with Him ; you have 
no right to hug your worries and 
troubles, as if they were a very im- 
portant part of your Christian life, and 
showed great zeal and earnestness. They 
are not so; they are a great hindrance 
to your growth in grace ; a great dis- 
honour to the Lord Jesus Christ; yet w* 



BESIDE US. 37 

have got into such a habit of troubling 
and worrying about insignificant little 
matters, which for the most part are 
sure to be over and forgotten before to- 
morrow, that we think them a necessity : 
that there is something peculiar about 
our trials, which makes it impossible for 
us to take them calmly, and rest them 
on Jesus, waiting for Him to deliver us. 

But, we may get rid of them all. We 
may give them up, if we will. When 
you begin to worry, it is not that Christ 
has gone away from you, but that you 
have shut your heart away from Him. 
If you really believed that He who is 
Love and Power, were with you y could 
you be so foolish ? Would you not rather 
turn and put your hands in His, and 
look into His blessed face of Love ? 

If you do that, trouble, worry, im- 
patience, will melt away, for though He 
is Love, yet are His eyes as " a flame of 
fire." The fire of His love not only burns 
away all that is sinful, but strengthens 
that which is weak and feeble — in a 



38 THE KING OF LOVE. 

word, unites us to Himself, " purifying 
us even as He is pure/' (i John iii. 4.) 

Troubles and afflictions, be they large, 
or be they small, are not sent to let us 
worry and fret, but to make our trust, and 
confidence, and hope in God, stronger 
and stronger, till at last nothing shall be 
able to take us from Him. Everything 
that tends to strengthen us in Him 
should fill us with encouragement. 

Perhaps some one says that if it were 
for Christ alone it would be easy, but 
that worries and troubles come through 
others. Yes, it is so ; we are all — the 
very best — only " earthern vessels ; " but 
yet, God knew, not only that troubles 
would come, but how they would come, 
and still He said, " Let not your heart 
be troubled/' 

He knew there would be temptations 
to anger and need for forbearance, and 
He not only says, a forbearing one 
another," but, " forbearing one another 
in love." 

He knew there would be occasions for 



BESIDE US. 39 

vain-glory, and He speaks of " lowliness 
and meekness." He knew we should be 
tempted to impatience, and He speaks of 
" long-suffering." 

He knew we must rebuke, and He tells 
us to do it in the " spirit of meekness." 

He knew we must sometimes speak 
truths that are not pleasant, and He tells 
us of " speaking the truth in love." 

He knew we should be tempted to be 
selfish, and He tells us, " Christ pleased 
not Himself." 

He knew that we should be tempted 
to be irritable and unsympathising, 
therefore He prays " that the God of 
Patience and consolation will grant us 
to be like-minded one to another according 
to (marg. after the pattern of) Christ 
Jesus. (Rom. xv. 5.) 

Do you think there is any little trouble 
He cannot overcome ? Only give your- 
self completely and absolutely to Him ; 
ask Him to be especially careful about 
you in these little matters ; pour out your 
very heart and soul as an offering to Him, 



4 o THE KING OF LOVE. 

and do the least act for love to Him, 
and you will find Him sufficient for all. 

Does He not treasure up the times 
when from your love to Him you forbore 
to speak ; when you listened patiently to 
another for His sake ; when you took the 
last place, for His sake ; when you did 
that uninviting errand for His sake ; 
when you applied yourself to that dis- 
tasteful, fidgety little task for His sake ? 

Oh, for what an One we may love and 
live, who will so graciously and lovingly 
accept these little offerings ! Will you 
make them for His beloved sake ? and 
remember for your comfort, His own 
words : — 

"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of 
the least of these, ye did it unto Me. 9 ' 
When you thus live, how natural and 
true will you find it to repeat : — 

" Ah Jesus, Jesus, dearest Lord, 

Forgive me if I say 
For very love, Thy sacred name, 

A thousand times a day." * 

* Faber. 



" Oh, for freedom, for freedom in worshipping God, 
For the mountain-top feeling of generous souls, 

For the health, for the air, of the hearts deep and broad, 
"Where grace, not in rills, but in cataracts rolls. 

"Most good is the brisk wholesome service of fear, 
And the calm wise obedience of conscience is sweet ; 

And good are all worships, all loyalties dear, 
All promptitudes fitting, all services meet. 

" But none honours God like the thirst of desire, 
Nor possesses the heart so completely with him ; 

For it burns the world out with the swift ease of fire, 
And fills life with good works, till it runs o'er the brim. 

" Then pray for desire, for love's wistfullest yearning, 

For the beautiful pining of holy desire ; 
Yes, pray for a soul that is ceaselessly burning, 

With the soft fragrant flames of this thrice happy fire. 

" For the heart only dwells, truly dwells, with its treasure, 
And the languor of love captive hearts can unfetter ; 

And they who love God cannot love him by measure, 
For their love is but hunger to love him still better. 

" Is it hard to serve God, timid soul ? Hast thou found 
Gloomy forests, dark glens, mountain-tops on thy way ? 

All the hard would be easy, all the tangles unwound, 
"Wouldst thou only desire as well as obey. 



" For the lack of desire is the ill of all ills ; 

Many thousands through it the dark pathway have trod, 
The balsam, the wine of predestinate wills 

Is a jubilant pining and longing for God. 

44 'lis a fire that will burn what thou canst not pass over ; 

'lis a lightning that breaks away all bars to love ; 
'Tis a sunbeam the secrets of God to discover ; 

'Tis the wing David prayed for, the wing of the Dove. 

" I have seen living men — and their good angels know, 
How they failed and fell short thro' the want of desire ; 

Souls once almost saints, have descended so low, 

'Twill be much if their wings bear them over the fire. 

" I have seen dying men, not so grand in their dying 
As our love would have wished, and thro' lack of desire. 

Oh that we may die languishing, burning, and sighing, 
For God's last grace and best is to die all on fire. 

" Oh then wish more for God, burn more with desire, 
Covet more the dear sight of His marvellous face ; 

Pray louder, pray longer, for the sweet gift of fire 

To come down on thy heart with its whirlwinds of grace. 

" Yes, pine for thy God, fainting soul ! ever pine, 
Oh, languish mid all that life gives thee of mirth ; 

Famished, thirsty, and restless, — let such life be thine, — 
For what sight is to heaven, desire is to earth. 

" God loves to be longed for, He longs to be sought, 
For He sought us Himself with such longing and love. 

He died for desire of us, marvellous thought ! 
And He yearns for us now to be with Him above." 

Faber. 



" And here we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, 
ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, 
and lively sacrifice unto Thee ; and although we be 
unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer unto Thee 
any sacrifice, yet we beseech Thee to accept this our 
bounden duty and service ; not weighing our merits, but 
pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 



" Accepted in the Beloved." — Eph. i. 6. 



AROUND US. 

13 UT beside this narrow, daily life, 
there is another — there is the life of 
active service in which we take part, 
whether in connection with or apart 
from our own home, for, knowing Christ 
ourselves, it is impossible, but that 
sooner or later, in some way or other, 
we find means of bringing others to know 
Him. 

God has given to each their own 
special place ; but, oh, are we, in that 
place, offering the very highest and best 
sendee to Him — the service that springs 
of love : Love, you know, is never 
contented with less than the very best; 
it is quick to detect possibilities of 



46 THE KING OF LOVE. 

service, eager to follow them, strong to 
bear, attempts what is even beyond its 
strength, for it forgets its own weakness 
and unfitness, resting in Him who is 
Strength, and Power, and Wisdom, and 
stretches out to fulfil all its desire and 
hope, and longing, in the service of 
Christ its Example. He came as " ser- 
vant of all," and in that deep lowliness 
proved Himself "first" and " chiefest," — 
" the chiefest among ten thousand." And 
now He lives everlastingly the Priest 
and the King of those who, following in 
His footprints, strive also to be " ser- 
vants of ally 9 that they may completely 
be " the servants of Jesus Christ." 

And what footprints ! But for love, 
none surely would ever dare' even to try 
the art of placing his own feet within 
them ; but love is so humble and brave, 
it cannot help but venture. 

We read of the Queen of Sheba, 
that when she came to see Solomon, 
she brought with her "a very great 
train, with camels that bare spices, and 



AROUND US. 47 

very much gold, and precious stones." 
(i Kings x. 2.) Such was the custom in 
the East when visiting princes ; the first 
act was to present a rich gift: so did Jacob 
send a present down to Egypt by his ten 
sons ; so had he formerly sent to Esau ; 
so did the Magi bring and present to our 
Lord ; and doubtless the noble Queen of 
Sheba had very specially prepared a 
costly gift for the monarch whose fame 
had so attracted her. 

Yet we read nothing of it, when she 
appeared before him ; we only read that 
she " communed with him of all that was 
in her heart " — for perhaps when ' she 
saw his riches and gold and precious 
stones, she felt the gift she had fancied 
so great would be as nothing where all 
was " riches and wealth, and honour," 
such as none other king had ever had, 
and such as none would ever have again. 
(2 Chron. i. 12.) 

Everything was wonderful to her — 
even "the sitting of his servants, and 
the attendance of his ministers, and their 



48 THE KING OF LOVE. 

apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his 
ascent by which he went up unto the 
house of the Lord." (i Kings x. 5.) 

She was a Queen, with servants and 
ministers, and yet never had she seen 
anything like it, and at last it tells us — 
"there was no more spirit left in her." 
She was lost ; there was no room for 
self any longer, now that she knew King 
Solomon and his • glory, and she turns 
and speaks to him : " It was a true report 

that I heard and behold, the half 

was not told me !" — and yet now, for the 
first time, she hastens to bring forth her 
presents : — 

"A hundred and twenty talents of 
gold " (2 Chron. ix. 9) ; but what was 
that, when "the weight of gold that 
came to Solomon in one (" each"*) year 
was six hundred three score and six 
talents of gold!" (1 Kings x. 14.) "And 
of spices great abundance and precious 
stones " (2 Chron. ix. 9) ; but, "he had of 
the merchantmen, and of the traffic of 

* Wordsworth. 



AROUND US. 49 

the spice merchants, and of all the kings 
of Arabia, and of the governors of the 
country ! " Yet with all this, " neither was 
there any such spice as the Queen of Sheba 
gave King Solomon" Surely it was that 
" because of the savour of his good 
ointment, his name was to her as oint- 
ment poured forth '■ (Cant. i. 3), and 
therefore in his presence it could not be 
otherwise than that " her spikenard sent 
forth the smell thereof" (Cant. i. 12); 
little and small in themselves, but 
weighty with love, she brought her 
lowly offerings, not because of herself 
but because of the king. 

So w T ill it be with us, — of what value is 
our service ? Of what worth our ignorant 
faltering work ? 

Of what worth ? 

In our eyes of none, yet still we offer it 
because of love ; and see what He says 
of one in whom His love thus brings 
forth service : — 

"I have compared thee, O my love, 
to a company of horses in Pharaoh's 

E 



50 THE KING OF LOVE. 

chariots " (Cant. i. 9) ; and Pharaoh's 
horses, perfect in strength, alert to 
obedience, were each one worth u 150 
shekels of silver/' (2 Chron. i. 17.) 

" Thy cheeks are comely with rows of 
jewels ; " that is, " comely through my 
comeliness which / had put upon thee, 
saith the Lord." (Ezek. xvi. 14.) 

"Thy neck with chains of gold," — for 
precious indeed to Him, is the faith 
which unites each believer to the Head. 

" Behold, thou art fair, my love ; 
behold, thou art fair, thou hast doves' 
eyes," for though in times past " ye have 
lien among the pots," now are ye, " as 
the wings of a dove covered with silver, 
and her feathers with yellow gold." 
(Ps. lxviii. 13.) 

Is not the service of one, thus loved 
and cared for, and who can return for 
all answer, " Behold, Thou art fair my 
Beloved" (Cant. i. 16); is it not precious 
— is it not to Him as " none other spice ? u 
Listen how he asks for it : — 

" O my dove, that art in the clefts of 



AROUND US. 51 

the rock, in the secret places of the 
stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me 
hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice and 
thy countenance is comely." (Cant. ii. 14.) 
"Thy voice sweet and thy countenance 
comely ? " How then in His service will 
it attract ; how will it command ; how 
beseech ; how implore ; how rejoice ; 
how weep ; not, perhaps, with great 
words of eloquence, but as " a still small 
voice," simple and natural ; speaking of 
the things it has heard and seen and 
looked upon — in truth and love, heart 
answering to heart. Love, w r ith winged 
feet, seeking the unloving and unlovely. 
Love, carrying the gospel of glad-tidings 
to those who do not care to seek it. 
Love, entreating those who have for- 
saken their first love to return, for " the 
Lord's hand is not shortened that He 
cannot save, nor His ear heavy that He 
cannot hear." Love, " feeding the flock 
of God. . . . taking the oversight thereof 
. . . willingly. . . . and of a ready mind " 
(1 Peter, v. 2); forgetting self, mindful 



52 THE KING OF LOVE. 

only of the chief Shepherd and the flock 
— His flock. Love, seeking to draw out 
the living water, Sunday by Sunday, to 
the class which is dull and heavy, which 
is giddy, which seems unimpressible. 
Love, daily teaching, unobserved, in the 
quiet school. Love, laid aside, yet there 
" helping together by prayer/' (2 Cor. i. 
2.) Love, plying the arduous task of 
showing gentleness and firmness, and, if 
may be, healing, to the sick in body. 
Love, not slothful, diligent, just and true 
in business. Love, obeying and serving 
earthly masters in singleness of heart. 
For all service — lowly or high, small or 
great — nothing but love, love, love. 
Love from God, bringing out love to 
Him ; Love for God causing love to our 
neighbour. 

" Herein is love, not that we loved 
God, but that He loved us. . . Beloved, 
if God so loved us, we ought also to love 
one another. If we love one another, 
God dwelleth in us, and His love is 
perfected in us. God is love, and he 



AROUND US. 53 

that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, 
and God in him" (i Jno. iv. 10, n, 
12, 1 6.) Love then is the preparation, 
the commencement, the continuance of 
service. 

To some, their work is apparent ; not 
sought perhaps — or perhaps it is 
sought; however it be, it is from God, 
of God. 

With others, it is not so apparent — 
still perhaps, to be undertaken. It is to 
be for the God you love — it is to be for 
those who love Him — it is to be for those 
who love Him not. 

It is to be for these, and yet, all the 
time, it will imperceptibly mould and 
fashion you for your mansion that is 
preparing, the house eternal in the 
heavens, for though now " in building " 
it is built " of stone made ready before it 
is brought thither ; so that there is neither 
hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron 
heard in the house, while it is in build- 
ing." (i Kings vi. 7.) All is perfected 
that enters there. " Earth is the work- 



54 THE KING OF LOVE. 

shop where God makes men ; Heaven is 
the palace where He shows them.'" * 

What service of love is to be yours ? 
There were many different services in the 
house of the Lord of old, among whom, 
" were very able men for the work of the 
service of the house of God." (i Chr.ix. 13.) 
Keepers of the gates and entry-porters, 
rulers, those set over the vessels, singers, 
harpers, and many other offices ; all per- 
formed as to the Lord ; all of God ; and 
many are pictures of lowly acts of love 
that we may perform : but the most im- 
portant of all was the service of the 
priests — it was the highest, the fullest, 
the most sacred. 

We know the King of Love — we love 
Him ; has our love carried us to the 
uttermost limits, to the greatest possibi- 
lities of service to Him ? Honourable is 
the career of a soldier in the ranks ; but 
what of him w T ho rises to command ? 

Have we chosen, rather, have we ac- 
cepted, the very highest God will bestow 

* From a sermon. 



AROUND US. 55 

upon us ? Are we shrinking back from 
a place wherein the love of God is ready 
to place us, because we deem ourselves 
unfit for it ? Is there some special place, 
needing a worker, beyond our capabili- 
ties (but who that may live and rely 
on God will measure his own powers), 
and none to enter in and work there, and 
shall we not, for His sake, step forward, 
and fill up the gap ? Is there not some- 
times more true humility in fulfilling a 
hard and difficult task than in drawing 
back and renouncing it ? 

I do not see how we can ever draw 
back, if we believe that the Lord will 
open to us His good treasure. 

St. Paul, writing to the Colossians, 
prays that they may " be filled with the 
knowledge of His will, in all wisdom 

all pleasing . . . all might . . . 

all patience and long-suffering/' and the 
reason this is possible for us is, that it 
is not of self — but — " according to His 
glorious power/' (Col. i. 9, 10, 11.) " Is 
not this destructive of the grasshopper 



56 THE KING OF LOVE, 

system ? Do you remember what that 
is ? Let us read the report of the un- 
faithful spies. (Num. xiii. 33.) ' We were 
in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we 
were in their sight' God's people, to- 
day, as of old, sadly elevate self, and 
debase their Lord, when they take the 
position of grasshoppers in the presence 
of the giants with whom they have to do 
battle. Never can it be true, except 
when we go a-warfaring on our own 
charges." 

Our God will teach each the truth of 
these things for his own individual work ; 
only, let us not miss the highest that He 
will bestow ; let us measure, not self, but 
the power of Christ, and also, what is fit 
service, for a service of love, to a King 
of Love ; let us aim at all that is likest 
and nearest to Him, Love. Let us re- 
member He is the "faithful witness" 



AROUND US. 57 

(Rev. i. 5), and let us be faithful wit- 
nesses to Him; " faithful unto death" 
(Rev. ii. 10) ; not only unto the death of 
the body, but unto the death of which St. 
Paul speaks, when he says : — " I protest 
by your rejoicing which I have in Christ 
Jesus / die daily" (1 Cor. xv. 31); then 
shall we wear " a crown of life," even 
here, as well as in the world to come. 

He is " the first-begotten from the 
dead," and let us offer to Him, not only 
our first-fruits, but the whole harvest of 
our being. 

He is " the Prince of the Kings of 
the earth," and let us live as those 
whom He shall not be " ashamed to call 
brethren." 

He hath loved us and washed us from 
our sins in His own blood, and hath made 
us "kings and priests unto God and His 
Father" 



Kings unto God, we may not doubt our power, 
We may not languish when he says, ' Be strong,'- 

We must move on through every adverse hour, 
And take possession as we pass along. 



5 8 THE KING OF LOVE. 

"Yes, all is for us — nothing shall withstand 
Our faithful, valiant, persevering claim ; — 
The rod of God's Anointed in our hand, 
And our assurance His unchanging name. 

" We need no haste, when He has said, * Be still ' — 
No peace where He has charged us to contend ; 
Only the fearless love to do His will, 
And to show forth His honour to the end, 

" O ye that faint and die, arise and live ! 

Sing ye that all things have a charge to bless ! 
If he is faithful who hath swom to give, 
Then be ye faithful and possess. 

" Take thy whole portion with thy Master's mind — 
Toil, hindrance, hardness, with his virtue take — 
And think how short a time thy heart may find 
To labour or to suffer for his sake." * 



Will you accept the office ? 



* L. A. W. 



VI. 



" There is a secret in the days of God, with His own 
children, which sweetens all He does." 



IN STILLNESS. 



" To you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to 
believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." — Phil. 
ii. 29. 



A SPECIAL gift of love are those 
suffering seasons which God is apt 
to give to His own. 

Once it was the service of love, now it 
is the rest of love. 

The absorbing work and interest must 
be laid aside ; what was bound so close 
must be unloosed ; that which seemed to 
depend on you must do without you ; the 
place that none other could fill must be 
supplied by another ; and you ? you must 
be still and suffer. But what is that 
when it comes of love ? 

" I could from all things parted be, 
But never, never, Lord, from Thee." 



62 THE KING OF LOVE. 

We read in St. Luke's gospel that 
short story in the life of Mary and 
Martha ; Martha was busy about much 
serving, Mary " sat at Jesus' feet, and 
heard His word." Both parts were 
acceptable to God, but only one was 
needful ; and Jesus calls it " that good 
part which shall not be taken away from 
her." 

Service He may give, and He may 
take away, but the " quiet abode at His 
feet" is yours for ever. And how do 
you know to what wondrous blessing 
God will lead you — to what revekitions 
of Himself now that you are laid by — 
unable for work, in stillness, and perhaps 
in suffering; fit for no outward tumult 
and bustle ; only able to listen to 
His voice, and not to that sometimes ; 
but even then you are not forsaken, 
for— 

" Leaning on Jesus breast," * 
" There the weary be at rest." f 



John xiii. 25. f Job iii. 17. 



IN STILLNESS. 63 

Perhaps you fancied these still hours 
and days — possibly months, or even 
years — were to be dry and arid, but 
" they thirsted not when He led them 
through the deserts/' for where He is " the 
desert blossoms as the rose/' (Ps. 48, 21.) 
" The thirsty ground shall become a 
pool, and the thirsty land springs of 
water; in the habitation of dragons, 
where each lay, shall be grass, with 
reeds and rushes." (Isa. xxxv. 7.) 

How cool, how resting, and satisfied. 
Truly, " My people shall be satisfied 
with my goodness, said the Lord." 
(Jer. xxxi. 14.) 

Have you accepted your gift of still- 
ness and suffering, or turned away 
because it was not to your taste ? Are 
you looking upon it as a hard painful 
thing given you to bear, and have you 
been looking so exclusively at the lesson 
that you have forgotten the teacher ? 
You cannot be too faithful to the lesson, 
but be as faithful to Him who teaches it. 
" He knows the learner as well as the 



64. THE KING OF LOVE. 

lesson/' * and " Every good and every 
perfect gift is from above, and cometh 
down from the Father of Lights, in whom 
is no variableness, nor shadow of turn- 
ing." (Jas. i. 17.) His heart is full of 
love, and tenderness, gentleness, and 
compassion, as He draws you aside in 
the wilderness, and bids you take Him- 
self as your portion ; and what deep, 
soft, tender pictures He gives of Himself, 
that none may say, — I am too weak, too 
timid ; a mother comforting, a hen brood- 
ing over her chickens and covering them 
with her feathers, an eagle bearing her 
little ones upwards on her own wings. 

So this quiet time is a special gift of 
love, to be accepted and laid at His feet, 
and then lifted "rejoicing in His strength," 
and borne as a crown, bestowed upon 
you to beautify you in His eyes, to adorn 
you in His sight ; to fit you for Himself; 
to satisfy you With His love. 

Yes, that is it ; quietness in itself, for 
any length of time, would be unbearable ; 

* From a Sermon, 



IN STILLNESS. 65 

but quietness with the one we love best, 
who can measure, who can tell the 
satisfaction ? How much we are willing 
to miss, to lose, to forego, that we may- 
be with that one; how we hunger for 
that companionship, and has it not long 
been an eager cry of yours, — " the com- 
panions hear Thy voice, cause me to hear 
it ?" (Cant. viii. 13.) 

Oh, He is going to speak to you now, 
so wondrously ; He has made it very 
still and quiet, and do you not love 
Him enough, do you not want and 
need Him enough, to be content for 
a short time to do nothing but receive 
from Him ? 

" To give than to receive more blest, 

Thou said'st : Oh, Thou giver free ! 
Good measure, shaken down and press'd 

Together, now I ask from Thee ; 
Oh ! give to me, dear Lord, and still 

Increase thy boons, make broad the place 
Where Thou dost dwell in me, and fill 

My hands with gifts, my heart with grace ; 
But lei me look upon thy face, 

What need to mourn if thou on mine 
But little comeliness should trace ; 

When love can give me all of Thine ; 

F 



66 THE KING OF LOVE. 

The loved are fair, the loved are dressed 
In garments rich and fresh and rare ; 

Oh ! bless Thou me, and I am blest ! 
Oh ; love Thou me, and I am fair." * 

" He maketh me to lie down in green 
pastures" (Ps. xxiii. 2), " satisfied with 
favour, and full with the blessing of the 
Lord." (Deut. xxxiii. 23.) 

* Dora Greenwell. 



VIL 



" J°y> — peace in flower." 

From a Sermon. 

" Of all the lights you carry in your face, joy will reach 
the furthest out to sea.'' 

H. W. Beecher. 

"Be much with God and your face will shine, let all 
men see the new creation." 

Bramwell. 



JOY IN HIM. 

LIE says, — "He will rejoice over thee 
with joy ; He will rest in His love ; 
He will joy over thee with singing " 
(Zeph. iii. 17) ; and if you know the least 
little bit of this, can you keep from joy 
yourself ? 

If there is the music of love in your 
heart, there will be joy in your face, joy 
in your w T ords, joy in your ways. 

Christ's, bought with the price of His 
most precious blood; redeemed, sanc- 
tified, kept by the power of God, we 
have good cause to "joy and rejoice." 
(Phil. ii. 17.) 

Who should be so bright, who so glad, 
who so rejoicing as those who "know 



7 o THE KING OF LOVE. 

the king in His beauty/' who know His 
love, for whatever our path, whether of 
service or rest or suffering, whether 
lowly or great, the same song flows 
through it ; — love. 

Yes, those who are His have some one 
in whom they do well to rejoice ; the 
thought of self has past and daily passes 
away, and being at liberty from that 
slave and hindrance, they can joy " in 
the Lord." 

Oh, there is so much said about joy, 
for God has given us such a portion in 
Himself as the heart cannot contain ; 
think of it, Himself — " A well of water 
springing up into everlasting life " 
(John iv. 14) ; and this to be " in" us ! Is 
it any wonder that this " sweet affection 
of the soul " * to Christ bursts forth, 
joying to be united to Him, joying in 
the union, joying in all that brings glory 
and honour to Him, joying in the joy 
yet to be. Is it any wonder that David 

* Cruden. 



JOY IN HIM. 71 

cries out, " God, my exceeding joy J 9 
(Ps. xliii. 4.) 

We read of the "joy of the Lord 
being our strength/' (Neh. viii. 10.) 

Of having Christ's "joy fulfilled " in 
us. (John xvii. 13.) Of "joy in the Holy 
Ghost' 3 (Rom. xiv. 17), and "joy of the 
Holy Ghost." (1 Thes. i. 6.) Of "joy" as 
a fruit of the Holy Ghost. (Gal. v. 22.) 

Do we think enough of it? If not, 
surely it is that we do not think enough 
of Christ, for He is so lovely that at the 
thought of Him joy cannot help itself, 
but springs up unbidden. 

Let us see where joy is to be with us ? 
The source is above — in the Father, the 
Son and the Holy Ghost. It flows down 
and springs up in us, first in our soul. 

" My soul shall be joyful in the Lord " 
(Ps. xxxv. 9) ; and then it bursts forth in 
the heart ; " My servants shall sing for 
joy of heart" (Ps. lxv. 14); then it flows 
out in praise. " My mouth shall praise 
thee with joyful lips" (Ps. lxiii. 5); and 
the feet are strengthened and " leap for 



72 THE KING OF LOVE. 

joy" (Luke vi. 23); and "everlasting 
joy is on their heads" (Isa. li. 11.) 

It does not cease because of earth's sor- 
rows and troubles, for even " the widow's 
heart sings for joy." (Job xxix. 13.) 

" They that sow in tears shall reap in 
joy" (Ps. cxxyi, 5); and He gives them 
" the oil of joy for mourning " (Isa. lxi. 3). 
He even "turns their mourning into joy." 
(Jer. xxxi. 13.) The Lord Jesus, "for 
the joy that was set before Him endured 
the cross" (Heb. xii.) ; and therefore 
tells His disciples that their sorrow 
shall be turned into joy." (John xvi. 20.) 
All this because our joy is to be in the 
Lord and not in self, not in any other. 

The sorrows of life and the joy in the 
Lord flow on side by side, and every 
vacant place in your heart He willy?// with 
His love and joy, for what cannot He do ? 

"I must have all things, and abound, 
While God is God to me." 

The more you have of Him, the more 
you will find you have this joy ; do not 
seek it but Htm. "To know Him is 



JOY IN HIM. 73 

the strength of obedience and the joy of 
communion." * " Joy of God is the 
strength of work for God ; work for God 
is the fixing of joy in God ; "f but do not 
seek the circumference and so miss it, 
through not finding the centre. 

It is joy in, not apart from the Lord, 
and since you yourself are " in the Lord/' 
"enter thou into His joy/' 

Can you read the 103rd Psalm and not 
be joyful ? Look at what is contained in 
it. There are two parts to be noticed. 

The Lord's part and our part. Within 
me ; iniquities, diseases, a life in danger 
of destruction, a hungry mouth, a youth 
fainting and aging, oppression, sins, 
transgressions, a feeble frame, altogether 
nothing stronger than dust" (Ps. ciii. 
1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 14), and we feel it no 
wonder that this poor nature of ours 
seeks that for which it has a natural 
affinity, and that David in another place 
says — "My soul cleaveth to the dusty 

Then how shall we loose the soul and 

* Adolph Saphir. f From a Sermon. 



74 THE KING OF LOVE. 

cause it to spring from the dust, and 
" mount up with wings as eagles " 
(Isa. xl. 31), seeking and searching 
straight into the face of Light ? Just 
by looking on the Lord's part in your 
soul, for it is to them that "wait on the 
Lord" that He reveals Himself. You 
are waiting — are you willing to receive ? 
Let us see what is said of Him in the 
103rd Psalm : we have looked quite long 
enough at self. We find that for every 
need in us He has a corresponding — no, 
not corresponding — an overflowing supply 
to meet it. He " forgiveth," " healeth/' 
"redeemeth," "crowneth with loving- 
kindness and tender mercies/' " satis- 
fieth," "reneweth," so that there is no 
failing old age in spiritual life, but 
strength and vigour ever increasing. 
He is " merciful/' " gracious/' " will not 
always chide," " hath not dealt with us 
nor rewarded us according to our sins." 
" He hath removed our transgressions ; 9i 
how far ? — from north to south ? No, 
that is not far enough — they are actual 



JOY IN HIM. 75 

definite points — but from " east to west;" 
for however far you follow, however fast 
you travel, the west will always sink 
before you, and the east will rise in the 
far distant. 

Beside this, He " pitieth " us ; He 
" knoweth" this poor frame of ours; He 
ever " remembereth " that we are dust — 
" A bruised reed shall He not break, and 
the smoking flax shall He not quench." 
(Isa. xlii. 3.) " The crooked shall be 
made straight, and the rough places 
smooth." (Isa. xl. 4.) 

So you see however low down you are, 
God turns it all to ■ good — you can never 
be too low for Him. Do you feel very 
low : — Yes ? Well, He knew you would, 
and has given you a message — "I dwell 

with him that is of a contrite 

and humble spirit." (Isa. xv.) Why does 
He dwell there ? Just to lift you up above 
it all, "to revive the spirit" and to "re- 
vive the heart ; " and you know you will 
be revived with Him dwelling there ; 
Him, — joy, strength, comfort, love. 



76 THE KING OF IOVE. 

Oh ! what a blessed dwelling it will 
become. Was it lonely and sad ? " The 
wilderness and the solitary place shall 
be glad for them." (Isa. xxxv. i.) Was 
it arid and barren, and full of straggling 
poisonous weeds ? " The desert shall 
rejoice and blossom as the rose. It 
shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice 
even with joy and singing; the glory of 
Lebanon shall be given unto it, the 
excellency of Carmel and Sharon : they 
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the 
excellency of our God." (Isa. xxxv. 2 y $.) 
" Ye shall go out with joy, and be led 
forth with peace : the mountains and 
hills shall break forth before you into 
singing, and all the trees of the field shall 
clap their hands. Instead of the thorn 
shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of 
the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree." 
(Isa. lv. 12, 13.) 

Were you weak and feeble, and of a 
fearful heart ? ' Here is a command, 
whereof you may rejoice and be exceed- 
ing glad, — you are no longer to look at 



JOY IN HIM. 77 

the "weak hands/' the " feeble knees," 
the " fearful heart : " " Be strong, fear 
not" (Isa. xxxv. 4.) Why ? being as I 
am, how can such things be ? " Behold, 
your God .... God .... He will come 
and save you." (Isa. xxxv. 4). 

And He being come, the eyes that 
strove so hard to see, but were only 
dazed by the light, receive their sight ; 
the sight of Him gives the sight to see 
all else. 

The ears that listened and heard with- 
out understanding, are unstopped, and 
the tender blessed name and voice of 
Jesus falls like music, and whispers love, 
joy, and peace. 

The halting, limping man, who knew 
not what way to go, what voice to obey, 
" leaps as an hart ; " for the way in 
which he goes, though it is " the way of 
holiness," yet if he even be " a fool, he 
shall not err therein." (Isa. xxxv. 8) ; 
and surely the reason is that, "Thus 
saith the High and Holy One that in- 
habiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, 



78 THE KING OF LOVE. 

I dwell in the high and holy place" 
(Isa. lvii. 15) ; and being there with Him, 
" in His light we also see light/' 

And then the tongue that was so silent 
and tied, and spoke but anguish and 
woe, sorrow and disappointment, what 
of it ? " The tongue of the dumb shall 
sing" — yes, it has something whereof to 
sing and rejoice ; for waters have broken 
out, and streams flow through the land — 
" A well of water springing up unto 
everlasting life" (John iv. 14); rivers of 
living w T ater" (John vii. 38); "And it 
shall come to pass in that day that the 
mountains shall drop down new wine, 
and all the hills shall flow with milk, 
and all the rivers of Judah shall flow 
with waters, and a fountain shall come 
forth of the house of the Lord, and shall 
water the valley of Shittim." (Joel iii. 

is.) 

This is a prophecy, a promise of bless- 
ing when God " shall bring again the 
captivity of Judah and Jerusalem " (Joel 
iii. 1); but perhaps we, who are the 



JOY IN HIM. 79 

house of the Lord, the temple of the 
Holy Ghost, may find an application to 
ourselves — and let us follow it up. Shall 
we also " water the valley ? " Shall the 
light and the joy and the brightness of 
" Christ in us " attract and draw those 
that are weary and tired ? draw them to 
the fountain of life from which we slake 
our thirst ? 

Oh, let it be so ; let us win, let us 
draw, let us claim for Christ by the joy 
of our life. " He that wtnneth souls is 
wise " (Prov. xi. 30) ; and " our power 
in drawing others after the Lord rests 
mainly in our joy and communion with 
Him ourselves/'* 

Oh, let us not miss this winning; " that 
if any obey not the word, they may with- 
out the word be won by the conver- 
sation/' (1 Pet. iii. 1.) 

Oh, we who have been so blest, we 
who are so filled and loved, let us draw 
others to love and joy. 

We know what trouble and grief and 

* From a Sermon. 



80 THE KING OF LOVE. 

distress are ; we know what it is to be 
empty and void and waste; we know 
what it is to have our " soul melted because 
of trouble" (Ps. cvii. 26): but now He 
has brought us into our desired haven — 
the haven where they, if they did but 
know it, would also be. He has brought 
us out " into a wealthy place ; " let us 
show how rich and full and satisfied we 
are ; and it is one of the strange things 
of God's kingdom, that if another comes 
to share these same riches, we too feel 
ourselves to grow richer. 

And then at the last — " The ransomed 
of the Lord shall return, and come to 
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
their heads : they shall obtain joy and 
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
flee away." (Isa. xxxv. 10.) 



VIII. 



" All joys llarmonised. ,, 

Frcm a Sermon, 



" The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, 
A fountain ever springing ; 
All things are mine since I am his, — 
How can I keep from singing ? " 



PEACE. 

"The Peace of God." 

*T^HIS is deeper than joy ; we may 
be without joy ; we cannot be with- 
out peace, if we are His ; for where the 
" Prince of Peace " governs, there must 
be peace ; and is it not blessed that " of 
the increase of His .... peace there 
shall be no end ? " (Isa. ix. 9.) 

Therefore, hearken unto Him, and 
then shall "thy peace be as a river" 
(Isa. xlviii. 18), deep, and still, ever 
flowing on to the ocean of love. 

If the heart is full of love, there must 
be peace; "Love is our weighty'* and 

* St. Augustine. 



84 THE KING OF LOVE. 

that weight balances us, and holds us 
firm through all that would otherwise 
toss us to and fro on the waves of this 
troublesome world. 

Christ gave us a " twofold peace when 
He left this earth — one a legacy, the 
peace of the cross ; the other a gift, com- 
munion with a risen Saviour ; " and it is 
this peace of His, which, because it 
" passes all understanding, keeps our 
hearts ; " it is a sort of covenant and re- 
membrance between us and Him, that 
lies deep in our hearts, full of blessing 
and grace. 

u The God of hope fill you with all joy 
and peace in believing, that ye may 
abound in hope through the power of 
the Holy Ghost." (Rom. xiv. 15.) " Joy 
and peace/' because you "know in Whom 
you have believed ; " it is no wavering, 
uncertain trust, but stayed on God. 
" Oh God, my heart is fixed, my heart is 
fixed) I will sing and give thanks." Held 
in His hand, in His heart, " His left 
hand under your head, his right hand 



PEACE. 85 

embracing you " (Cant. ii. 9) ; surely it is 
indeed peace. 

" Resting in Htm> and waiting pa- 
tiently for Htm" it is peace. 

" Risen with Christ/' and yet " hid 

* 

with Him," it is peace. 

"Knowing the love of Christ," it is 
peace ; and it is the " God of peace who 
shall bruise Satan under your feet. 
(Rom. xvi. 20.) 

The " God of peace who shall sanctify 
you wholly/' (1 Thes. v. 23.) 

The " God of peace who shall make 
you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle 
you (Heb. xiii. 20), and the " God of 
peace shall be with you." (Phil. iv. 9.) 

Can you say but that He " maketh peace 
in all thy borders, and filleth thee with 
the finest of the wheat }" (Ps. cxlvii. 14.) 

This peace is just a simple full heart- 
rest in Christ. The turbulent eagerness 
of joy may pass, but it passes only to 
deepen, just as the waters of a great river 
bubble and rise, rushing with full strength 
and life, eager to meet what lies before, 



86 THE KING OF LOVE. 

and you find them again far far away ; the 
same waters, the same life, but oh, what 
a depth ! how bright, how full, how con- 
centrated. How perfectly they give back 
the reflection of the skies ! still, with 
fulness of life. So with the spiritual life : 
there is a quiet fixing of joy in God, 
which has brought peace, a peace which 
nothing can disturb, for it is founded on 
a Rock, and that Rock is Christ. 

True, the surface may still quiver and 
toss, lifted with storm and wind ; still it 
may ripple and smile, and exult in the 
breeze, but the great volume beneath is 
still. 

There is room for all where the foun- 
dation is sure and steadfast. 

" Blessed are the single-hearted, for 
they shall enjoy much peace/' says 
Thomas a Kempis, and surely that gives 
us the root. A "single" heart enjoys 
this wondrous peace, for. its object, aim, 
desire, is but one — Christ — "to know 
Him; " and it presses onward towards 
its mark, free and unshackled, and 
unembarrassed. 



PFACE. 87 

What, if in that knowing of Himself, 
Christ has added a glimpse of the" fellow- 
ship of His sufferings r " ("Phil, iii 10.) 
'•To you it is given in the behalf of 
Christ." Have you watched with Him 
" one hour ? " Once He prayed that some 
would "watch with Him one hour ; " but 
their eyes were heavy with sleep, for 
they knew Him not perfectly then, and 
when He came for comfort He found 
them sleeping. 

Did He come to you and find you 
waking ? perhaps u willing against yoicr 
will," perhaps praying His own prayer, 
u Father, if it be possible remove this 
cup from me" and He loved you so, He 
stayed you up against yourself; he added 
the full blessing from which you shrank, 
and for which, as you look back, you 
thank and praise Him, though you dared 
not pray for it. 

" Knowledge by suffering entereth, 
And life is perfected in death. " 

What knowledge has suffering brought 
to you ? Much, doubtless ; but above all, 



88 THE KING OF LOVE. 

has not the slender thread of love (which, 
nevertheless, seemed then great and 
strong) that bound you and your life 
and your God, has it not grown a mighty 
knotted cable — strong as death ? And 
perhaps it is the suffering more than 
aught else, that has brought to your 
consciousness this wondrous revelation 
of God's love, and that has harmonised 
the joys into "perfect peace. " 

Perfect peace, still and ever increasing ; 
" the peace of God, which passeth all 
understanding/' The darkness and 
shadows find no place, they flee away ; 
all is love, all is peace — 

" • • • white and pure, with sunniest affections, 
Full from the face of Christ ; 
And both, across the sun besilvered tide, 
Help to the haven where the heart would ride." 



IX. 



" It was not that our love was cold, 

That earthly lights were burning dim ; 
But that the Shepherd from His fold 
Had smiled, and drawn them unto Him. 

rt Praise God, the Shepherd is so sweet ! 
Praise God, the country is so fair ! 
We would not hold them from His feet ; 
We can but haste to meet them there." 



< And then, with Him go hand in hand, 
Far into bliss. " 

Dean Alford. 



"All that life is Love." 

St. Bernard. 



THE NEW HOME. 

" T O, a great multitude, which no man 
could number. . . These are they 
which came out of great tribulation, and 
have washed their robes and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. There- 
fore are they before the throne of God, 
and serve Him day and night in His 
temple : and He that sitteth on the 
throne shall dwell among them. They 
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
more; neither shall the sun light on 
them, nor any heat : for the Lamb which 
is in the midst of the throne shall feed 
them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of waters : and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes." 
(Rev. vii. 4, 17.) 



92 THE KING OF LOVE. 

" These are they which follow the 
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These 
were redeemed from among men, being 
the first-fruits unto God and the Lamb. 
And in their mouth was found no guile, 
for they are without fault before the 
throne of God. . . Yea, they may rest from 
their labours, and their works do follow 
them." (Rev. xiv. 4, 5, 13.) 

"Blessed are they which are called 
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." 
(Rev. xix. 9.) 

" There was no more sea. . . God shall 
wipe aw^ay all tears from their eyes ; and 
there shall be no more death, neither 
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
any more pain. . . No temple therein — no 
need of the sun, neither of the moon to 
shine in it. . . No night there ... in no 
wise enter into it anything that defileth 
. . . no more curse ... no night . . . 
no need of candle, neither light of the sun." 
(Rev. xxi. 1, 4, 22, 21, 25, 27 ; 3, 5.) 

" God will dwell with them, and thev 
shall be His people, and God Himself 



THE NEW HOME, 93 

shall be with them, and be their God. . . 
The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
are the temple of it . . . the glory of God 
did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 
thereof . . . the throne of God and of the 
Lamb shall be in it, and His servants 
shall serve Him ; and they shall see His 
face, and His name shall be in their fore- 
heads. The Lord God giveth them light, 
and they shall reign for ever and ever/' 
(Rev. xxi. 3, 22, 23 ; xxii. 3, 4, 5.) 

" Come thou bright and holy morning, 
Lord, our Sun arise ; 
Send the angels of Thy coming, 
Thro' the silent skies." * 



E. F. B. 



"If we hope for that we see not, then do we with 
patience wait for it." — Rom. viii. 25. 



"Oh, to be there! 
Where never tears of sorrow 
Shall dim the eye, nor aching pain, nor care 
Shall ever cloud our morrow, 

Oh, to be there ! 

" Oh, lovely home ! 
Thy fragrant, thornless flowers 
Droop not, nor die, — but everlasting bloom 
Crowns all thy golden hours, 
Oh, lovely home ! 

" Oh, let me go ! 
Death shall not there dissever 
Our loving hearts, — Rivers of pleasure flow 
At God's right hand for ever, 

Oh, let me go ! 

"For Thou art there, 
Who unto me hast given 
Eternal life, making me pure and fair : 
And this to me is Heaven 
That THOU art there." 



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